Contents

History

The Constitution of the United States does not explicitly establish the office of Chief Justice but presupposes its existence with a single reference in Article I, section 3: "When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside." Nothing more is said in the Constitution regarding the office, including any further distinction between the Chief Justice and the other, so-called Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, who are never mentioned in the Constitution.

The Chief Justice, like the other justices, is nominated by the President and confirmed to sit on the Court by the U.S. Senate. The U.S. Constitution states that all justices of the Court "shall hold their offices during good behavior," meaning that appointments are for life: they end only when a justice chooses to retire, dies, or is impeached and convicted by the Congress.

Some chief justices, like William H. Rehnquist, were elevated by the President after having served previously on the bench as an associate justice. Justices who are elevated to the position of Chief Justice from that of Associate Justice must again be confirmed by the Senate (a rejection by the Senate, however, does not end their tenure as an associate justice; it merely precludes them from serving as Chief Justice). Most chief justices, including Roberts, have been nominated to the highest position on the Court without any previous experience on the Court; indeed some, like John Marshall and Earl Warren, were selected without any prior judicial experience.

The office is often but incorrectly referred to as "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court." Title 28, United States Code, Sec. 1 specifies the title as "Chief Justice of the United States," and thus, not just of the Court itself. The title changed at the suggestion of 6th Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, who wished to emphasize the Court's role as a coequal branch of government. By contrast, the other eight members of the Court are Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, not "Associate Justices of the United States."

The salary of the Chief Justice is set by Congress, and it is slightly higher than that of the Associate Justices. It is $208,100 per annum as of 2006 (seeTemplate:UnitedStatesCode).

Duties

Impeachment trials

Article I, section 3 of the U.S. Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice shall preside over impeachment trials of the President of the United States in the U.S. Senate. Two Chief Justices, Salmon P. Chase and William Rehnquist, have had the duty of presiding over the trial in the Senate that follows an impeachment of the President – Chase in 1868 over the proceedings of President Andrew Johnson and Rehnquist in 1999 over the proceedings against President Bill Clinton.

Further, the Chief Justice presides over the impeachment trial of the Vice President if, under the terms of the 25th Amendment, the Vice President is serving as Acting President. However, no Vice President has been impeached (though Spiro Agnew resigned under threat of impeachment), and none has been Acting President for more than a few hours.

Seniority

The Chief Justice is considered to be the justice with most seniority, independent of the number of years he or she has served. As a result, the Chief Justice chairs the conferences where cases are discussed and voted on by the justices. The Chief Justice normally speaks first, and so has great influence in framing the discussion.

The Chief Justice sets the agenda for the weekly meetings where the justices review the petitions for certiorari, to decide whether to hear or deny each case. Less than one percent of cases petitioned to the Supreme Court are agreed to be heard. While Associate Justices may append items to the weekly agenda, in practice this initial agenda setting power of the Chief Justice has significant influence over the direction of the court.

Despite the seniority and added prestige, the Chief Justice's vote carries no more legal weight than those of the other eight justices. However, in any vote, the most senior justice in the majority has the power to decide who will write the Opinion of the Court. Since the Chief Justice is always considered the most senior member, if he or she is in the majority then the Chief Justice decides who will write the Opinion of the Court. This power to determine the author of the Court's opinion (including the choice to select him or herself) allows a Chief Justice who is in the majority to influence the historical record. Two justices in the same majority, given the opportunity, might write very different majority opinions (as evidenced by many concurring opinions); being assigned the majority may also cement the vote of an Associate who is viewed as only marginally in the majority (a tactic that was reportedly used to some effect by Earl Warren). A Chief Justice who knows his Associates can therefore do much—by the simple act of selecting the justice who writes the Opinion of the Court—to affect the "flavor" of said opinion, which in turn can impact the interpretation of that opinion in cases before lower courts in the years to come. It is said that some chief justices, notably Earl Warren and Warren Burger, sometimes switched votes to a majority they disagreed with in order to be able to use this prerrogative of the Chief Justice to dictate who would write the opinion.

Oath of office

The Chief Justice administers the oath of office at the inauguration of the President of the United States. This is a traditional rather than constitutional responsibility of the Chief Justice. All federal and state judges, as well as notaries public, are empowered by law to administer oaths and affirmations.

List of Chief Justices

* Recess appointment, later rejected by the Senate** Was elevated from Associate Justice *** Also served as U.S. President § Served previously as Associate Justice §§ Historians disagree as to whether he resigned or declined the commission ([1])† Died in office